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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



KNIGHTHOOD AND 
CHIVALRY 



BY 
REV. THOMAS H. MALONE 




DENVER, COLORADO 
1910 



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; 



COPYRIGHT 1909 
BY THOMAS H. M ALONE 



The Smith-Brooks Press 



(gCLA2565_84 



DEDICATED 

to 

THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS 



INTRODUCTORY 



Manners are of more importance than 
laws. Upon them, in a great measure, the 
laws depend. The law touches us but here 
and there, and now and then. Manners are 
what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt 
or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a con- 
stant, steady, uniform, insensible opera- 
tion, like that of the air we breathe in. 
They give their whole form and color to our 
lives. According to their quality, they aid 
morals; they supply them or they totallv 
destroy them. 

Burke: Letters on a Regicide Peace. Let- 
ter t. 



KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



CHE orders of Knighthood and the 
spirit of chivalry can hardly be 
understood without some knowl- 
edge of the times in which these institutions 
appeared and flourished. From the ordi- 
nary references to mediaeval times and the 
so-called Dark Ages, we are apt to conclude 
that the world was, during that period, less 
than even semi-civilized, — worse, almost, 
than barbarous. But if we examine, no 
matter how casually, the institutions of 
those times, we will find that our boasted 
twentieth century enlightenment owes to 
them a debt impossible to calculate, abso- 
lutely immeasurable. Feudalism, monasti- 
cism, the guilds and other outgrowths of the 
wants and tastes of the Middle Ages, have ( 
their monuments still in existence, monu- 
ments of art and architecture, of science and 





KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIV ALRY 











literature, that must and do command the 
attention of every person, even the most un- 
observant or the most bigoted. 

But these material monuments, inter- 
esting and valuable as they are, take a rank 
second to the spirit which produced them— 
the feudal system — and to the spirit of chiv- 
alry, the humanizing influence of which is 
still felt, though the institution itself is cen- 
turies in the past. 

The words "chivalry" and "knight- 
hood," theoretically, are identical, since 
chevalier and knight are synonyms, but, 
practically, chivalry is applied to the whole 
body of ideas and customs which prevailed 
among the nobility, and knighthood to the 
estate itself. Its origin is to be found in the 
primeval customs of the barbarous German 
and Gallic tribes which overran all of west- 
ern Europe, and whose customs and habits 






KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



previous to that time have not been pre- 
served bv historical records. 

Feudalism was at first a host of petty 
tyrannies, whose mutual aims and interests 
often clashed, and brought about a condi- 
tion of constant war, in a small way. The 
knight in those days was a freeman of the 
tribe who possessed a horse, and all of these 
were commanded to bear arms. The Ger- 
mans were not a riding people, but the 
Goths had found out the usefulness of the 
horse soldier in their conflicts with the Ro- 
mans, and it was for this reason that each 
leader of a tribe had attached to him per- 
sonally a body of these freeman knights. 
Every youth born of free parents, on attain- 
ing military age, was admitted to the militia 
of his tribe, was invested with the warrior's 
spear and buckler, and all the other accou- 
trements of war, — the belt being the last 
and most important symbol of knighthood. 






KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 




The chief held of his sovereign on condi- 
tion of service, the knight of his chief in the 
same way. The land he held was his foeff, 
hence the derivation of "feudal." 

As feudal chiefs were frequently at en- 
mity, their retainers were so many armed 
soldiers under the direction of the chiefs. 
Their castles were fortresses as well as pal- 
aces. The use of arms was not only natural, 
but necessary, and the military institution 
of chivalry was the result. In a state of 
more or less constant insecurity, military 
\ discipline must not be relaxed even in the 
\ intervals of peace, and the tilts and tourna- 
ments of mimic warfare were kept up for 
the amusement of the knights, when not en- 
gaged in the serious duties of their estates. 
Thus it will be seen that the military insti- 
tution of chivalry, confirmed with oath and 
ceremonial, was a development of the feudal 
constitution, and the Gothic cavalier was 










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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



the lineal ancestor of all the knights of the 
Middle Ages. 

The existence of chivalry as an institu- 
tion de facto differentiated from the cus- 
toms and sentiments which fostered its 
growth, of established form and order and 
authority, may be dated from a time just 
previous to the first crusade. The western 
nations had begun to show the influence 
of the church, the Normans had infused 
their innovating spirit into past systems and 
customs, the claims of the Papacy for uni- 
versality and unity had been asserted and 
maintained, the feudal system of holding 
lands was established as an organized in- 
stitution, and the aristocracies of rank and 
military service, with their tournaments and 
adventures, had established something like 
a fraternity of arms in the military and 
landed classes throughout Europe. At this 
time knighthood was esteemed a reward of 



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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 




valor, a sign of noble birth, a title to land, 
and carried with it an obligation of recipro- 
cal service and protection, a tie of brother- 
hood in arms, a religious bond, blessed by 
the church. 

In its beginnings, all within the class of 
freemen were equal, — and upon this equal- 
' ity was based the equality of knighthood,— 
for all admitted to knighthood were made 
equals by the very fact of their knighthood, 
whatever difference of descent or rank 
might exist among them. The feudal sys- 
tem of land tenure tended to develop an 
aristocracy indeed, but for all that, the idea, 
the principle of equality, was never lost 
sight of, and the equality of all knights, irre- 
spective of degree, was maintained through 
all the vicissitudes of the rise, decline and 
fall of the institution as one of the funda- 
mentals of chivalry. 



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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



REVERENCE FOR WOMANHOOD. 
Later the doctrine of love became an 
essential part of chivalry, expressed in every 
phase of social life, war and literature. 
Knighthood gained in dignity by becoming 
romantic, and though this sentiment be- 
came, in the long run, exaggerated and 
senseless, the romantic character remained 
always an integral part of chivalry. A 
knight's duty was "To fear God, and to 
love the ladies," or, as a quaint little French 
verse has it — 

"My soul to God, 
My life to my king, 
My heart to the ladies, 
My honor to myself." 

The oath of the knight was really one of 
service to his God and to society, — to pro- 
tect the oppressed and to uphold the right. 
The first requisite was a solemn vow "to 
speak the truth, to succor the helpless and 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 




oppressed, and never to turn back from an 
enemy." This vow and the solemn appeal 
to hearers in witness thereof was the very 
[_, cornerstone of knighthood. 

The religion of chivalry was perforce 
the Christian religion, and it was Catholic 
faith that imparted life and grace to its 
every manifestation. It was the founda- 
tion, the pervading spirit, the vital principle 
of early chivalry. From it came the fervor 
of heroism, the contempt for riches, the re- 
gard for woman, the zeal of loyalty, the 
constancy of friendship, the sentiment of 
honor which distinguishes it at its best 
period. Chivalry was, indeed, the hand- 
maid of religion, and though the ideals of 
perfection sought by religion were never 
realized by chivalry, a standard of excel- 
lence was consciously set up and recog- 
nized, the influence of which is still felt, 



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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



though the thing itself is centuries behind 



us. 



And this is a truth that is largely for- 
gotten by many people in our age; the ideal 
gentleman is nothing more than the ideal 
Christian. If, when we meet in times of 
broil and battle with exquisite courtesy ac- 
companying high courage and unselfishness 
and consideration for others, we curiously 
ask whence such gentle thoughts were pro- 
duced, we shall find their source and mo- 
tive in Christianity; just as they were the 
finer Christians, they were the finer knights 
and more perfect gentlemen. Knighthood 
had its foolish and fantastic human man- 
nerisms; its admirable qualities and true 
substance were rooted in Christian faith. 

In all the ballads, romances, fabliaux, 
sirventes, not one instance is to be found in 
which a squire becomes a knight without 
some reference to his religious faith. If he 



- 



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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 




be dubbed on the battle field, he swears to 
defend the right, and to maintain all the 
statutes of the noble order of chivalry. Up- 
on the cross of his sword he calls heaven to 
witness his vow, and the saints to help him 
in its execution. In one of the most absurd 
fables of the chivalrous ages, wherein we 
find Saladin himself receiving the order of 
chivalry from the hands of the Count de 
Taberie, the nobleman causes the infidel to 
be shaved and to bathe as a symbol of bap- 
tism, and then to rest himself upon a per- 
fumed bed, as a type of the joy and repose 
of paradise. Such tales are all fictitious, it 
is true, but as they universally ascribe reli- 
gious ceremonies to the order of knight- 
hood, we have every reason to believe that 
such ceremony formed a fundamental part 
of the institution. 

For the mind, in the matter of acquiring 
or diffusing knowledge, for mental disci- 





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KXICHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



pline, chivalry did little, though its influence 
did much. Fq* the heart, it did everything; 
and there can be no doubt but that knight- 
hood, the institution of chivalry, more than 
anv other influence (except religion) aided 
to work out the civilization of Europe. Ex- 
cept Christianity, it is the best school of 
moral discipline, and the only institution 
for the benefit of society at large, known to 
the Middle Ages. Now chivalry, as I have 
already said, was more a spirit than an in- 
stitution. The outward forms were only 
the signs by which it was conventionally 
agreed that those persons who had proved 
that they possessed the spirit should be dis- 
tinguished from the other classes of society. 
The ceremonial was merely the public dec- 
laration that he on whom the order was 
conferred was worthy to exercise the pow- 
ers with which it invested him, but still, the 
SPIRIT was the chivalry. Every moral 

m? ■---- — 



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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 




virtue became a part of knightly honor; 
valor was a necessity and became a habit; 
gluttony and intemperance were strictly for- 
bidden; the peculiar grace of manner which 
we call courtesy formed a principal perfec- 
tion of the knightly character; a knight who 
would be guilty of an untruth was looked 
upon as capable of treachery or cowardice; 
therefore an exalted sense of personal honor 
became his highest attribute. It is related 
that Henry, surnamed the Fowler, at the 
institution of the first tournament in Ger- 
many, proclaimed that, "No one was to be 
admitted to that most honorable of amuse- 
ments who did not profess Christianity, 
who had been known to be guilty of per- 
jury, treason, slaughter in cold blood, sacri- 
lege or the violation of women." 

It can therefore readily be seen that the 
men whose hands were ever ready to draw 
the sword in defense of innocence and 




4^} 



KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



weakness, whose watchwords were truth 
and faith and loyalty, w r ho in their own con- 
duct set the most brilliant example, whose 
sole object was the establishment of right, 
and over whom no earthly fear or interested 
consideration held sway, these men could 
not fail to be exalted above other men by 
common consent, by public opinion, even 
were there no oath or ceremonial. 

Such a man was the foremost military 
figure of the first Crusade, Godfrey of Bou- 
illon. After Jerusalem was taken, he was 
chosen, apparently by the unanimous voice 
of those who had a suffrage, as the first 
Christian king of Jerusalem. Even the in- 
hdel Gibbon, who writes of Christians noth- 
ing good that he can help, says of Godfrey 
and his government: 

"The spirit of freedom, which pervades 
the feudal institutions, was felt in its strong- 
est energy by the volunteers of the cross, 



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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



who elected for their chief the most deserv- 
ing of his peers. Amidst the slaves of Asia, 
unconscious of the lesson or example, a 
model of political liberty was introduced; 
and the laws of the French kingdom are 
derived from the purest source of equality 
and justice." 

Not all knights were like Godfrey; but 
at least those not like him looked up to and 
acknowledged him as a model of knight- 
hood. Even the Templars and Hospital- 
lers, if in the course of time they became 
rapacious and cruel, could and did always 
fight and pray. At the great siege of Acre 
by the Mohammedans, the church of the 
Templars held out for three whole days 
after the rest of the city was taken. Many 
years later, the siege of Malta and its de- 
J fense by the Hospitallers afforded perhaps 
the supreme example of heroism and de- 
voted courage in all the world's history. In 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



every Crusade for centuries there were ex- 
amples of the "very parfait gentil knight", 
down to the time when St. Louis of France 
breathed his last upon the sands of Africa 
before the walls of Carthage. 

"In St. Louis there was a rare combina- 
tion of personal accomplishments, and even 
of apparently opposite qualities, which 
made him not only superior to his age, but 
confessedly one of the most extraordinary 
men that ever wore a crown. His love for 
religious exercises was never an obstacle to 
the fulfillment of his public duties. His 
uncommon piety, his simplicity of manners, 
and meekness in private life never pre- 
vented him from being a faithful dispenser 
of justice, a wise legislator, an intrepid war- 
rior, and a dignified monarch. Not only 
France, but all Europe, and also popes, 
kings and emperors, entertained for him 
the highest respect. He won the admira- 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 






tion even of that Asiatic prince, called Le 
Vieux de la Montagne, from whom the 
other crowned heads had so much to fear 
for their lives; and of those terrible Mama- 
lukes of Egypt whose prisoner he was, and 
who once, as is commonly believed, de- 
liberated whether they should appoint him 
their sovereign. In a word, Louis IX, by 
practising every royal, military and Chris- 
tian virtue in an eminent degree, was at the 
same time a great king, a great hero, and a 
great saint. Innumerable witnesses bore 
testimony to his unblemished morals and 
piety; and no later than the year 1297, tne 
27th after his death, he was solemnly can- 
onized by Pope Boniface VIII." 

Foolish as our material age may deem 
their aim, wasteful as they were of them- 
I selves, and of Europe's best blood, yet the 
Crusaders, the Templar Knights who took 
the cross to fight for an empty tomb and a 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



holy memory, because of their self-sacrifice 
and their motive, will ever win the thrill and 
admiration of the noblest human hearts. 

The story of the Norman knights is also 
tempting; would be worth telling at length 
if our limits permitted; they were a people, 
we can not call them a race, who more than 
any other have profoundly affected the story 
of the world. Rude and greedy, some of 
them marched across Europe when Wil- 
liam the Conqueror was a child^and over- 
came Sicily and southern Italy. With suc- 
cess they became wonderfully changed to 
men of courtesy and kindliness and high 
practice and deep religion. Again, a great 
body of them with William crossed the nar- 
row sea to England; greedy, also, iron and 
pitiless, these were at first, but when they 
had conquered England they became the? 
protectors of the weak, the strong lovers of 
justice, and the devoted followers of Christ. 

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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 




With Richard, the Lion-Hearted, they 
fought the Saracen for the holy places, and, 
oh! how glorious they were when they stood 
there at Runnymede by the great Arch- 
bishop Langton, and, not for their own 
order alone, but for ignoble hind and serf, 
for every Englishman, they wrested the 
Great Charter of Freedom from the tyrant 
John. Some of these marvelous Norman 
Knights, the Fitzgeralds, the De Burgos, 
the Butlers, the De Courcys, crossed to Ire- 
land and smote it pitilessly, and then, soft- 
ened and changed, became the idols of the 
people. More Irish than the Irish you can 
trace them to-day, up and down the island, 
in their stone efhgies, in many a sad and 
beautiful abbey which they built, and in 
which often wearily they died. And there 
they sleep, their stone images marking their 
graves, their feet crossed; they were the 
knights of Christ. 





KNIGHTHOOD AND C H I V A L R>$£ 



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"He who seeks to be a knight," said the 
Bishop of Valenciennes to the young Count 
of Ostrerant, on the occasion of his knight- 
hood, "he who wishes to be a knight should 
have great qualities. He must be of noble 
birth, liberal in gifts, high in courage, strong 
in danger, secret in council, patient in diffi- 
culties, powerful against enemies, prudent 
in his deeds. He must also swear to ob- 
serve the following rules: To undertake 
nothing without having heard mass, fast- 
ing; to spare neither his blood nor his life in 
defense of the Catholic faith; to give aid to 
all widows and orphans; to undertake no 
war without just cause; to favor no injus- 
tice, but to protect the innocent and op- 
pressed; to be humble in all things; to seek ^\\ 
the welfare of those placed under him; 
never to violate the rights of his sovereign, 
and to live irreprehensibly before God and 
man" 



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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 




And the words of the Bishop of Valen- 
ciennes are just as applicable to the knights 
of to-day as they were centuries ago to the 
noble Count of Ostrerant. 

I need not go into any discussion of the 
causes which brought about the decline and 
fall of chivalry. It is sufficient to say that 
it did decline and gradually fell into disuse 
and contempt. 

"The old order changeth, yielding place to 

new; 
And God fulfills Himself in many ways, 
Lest one good custom should corrupt the 

world." 

Though we can not regret the change, 
still when into our different world there 
comes with the romance and chivalry the 
atmosphere of knighthood, the knight of 
the Middle Ages, we are mightily attracted. 

One such came in the dawn of the nine- 
teenth century, the romantic young Irish 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



patriot, poet, orator, lover, Robert Emmet. 
His country was prostrate, and no hand 
seemed left to raise her. The good and the 
brave were banished or imprisoned, or had 
died on the scaffold or the battlefield. 

Speaking of him in his soul-touching 
poem in prose on "Broken Hearts," Wash- 
ington Irving says: "He was so young, so 
intelligent, so generous, so brave, so every- 
thing we are apt to like in a young man. 
His conduct, under trial, too, was so lofty 
and intrepid! The noble indignation with 
which he repelled the charge of treason 
against his country, the eloquent vindica- 
tion of his name, and his pathetic appeal to 
posterity, in the hopeless hour of condem- 
nation, all these entered deeply into every 
generous bosom, and even his enemies la- 
mented the stern policy that dictated his 
execution. " 



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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 






He flung his young life, a seemingly use- 
less sacrifice, on the altar of freedom, and 
not alone his own, but that of the gentle and 
beautiful girl he loved with the romance of 
the ancient world. 

"He had lived for his love; for his country 

he died; 
They were all that to earth had entwined 

him; 
Nor soon shall the tears of his country be 

dried, 
Nor long shall his love stay behind him." 

One came into our own history in the 
middle of the last century. He fought, in- 
deed, for a wrong cause, but one judges him 
by his motives, the call of his beloved state, 
the cry of his own people; when we look at 
his whole life, so brave and gentle was he, 
so courteous and considerate, so ready to 
feel and , share the sorrows of others, we 
must confess that General Robert E. Lee 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



was the mediaeval knight straying into an- 
other age. 

And, again, the character of the great 
Englishman, William Ewart Gladstone, 
always appeared to be haloed with the ro- 
mance of ancient knighthood; so fine was 
he in his Christian ideals, so patient and 
courageous, so able to take the common- 
place things of a commonplace generation, 
and show their greatness in their utility to 
human service. And, at the last, because 
"He reverenced his conscience as his king," 
that he might assist a people that were not 
his, as the champion of their cause, the 
knight, burning to right their wrongs, he 
flung away the friendship of many who 
loved him, and lost that lofty place in the 
world, the premiership of the British Em- 
pire. 

No! Knighthood has not altogether 
passed; it has changed its form; the shadow 



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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



has departed; the substance remains. Its 
refining and humanizing influence is still 
felt. The records of its honors are now the 
merest empty names; but we are not yet so 
steeped in the materialism of modern times 
as not to enjoy the tales of knightly valor 
and chivalrous devotion of the mediaeval 
hero. Our gentler emotions and higher 
aspirations can still be stirred by the recitals 
of Dante and Boiardo and Ariosto and 
Tasso and Milton and Spenser, at the ad- 
ventures of the knights of Arthur's Court, 
at the loves of ladies and at tilts and tourna- 
ments. King Arthur made his knights lay 
their hands in his and swear: 



"To reverence the King, as though he were 




f 



Their conscience, and their conscience as 

their King, 
To break the heathen and uphold the 

Christ, 
To ride abroad redressing human wrongs, 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



To speak no slander, no, nor listen to it, 
To honor his own word as if his God's, 
To lead sweet lives in purest chastity, 
To love one maiden only, cleave to her, 
And worship her by years of noble deeds, 
Until they won her; for, indeed, I knew 
Of no more subtle master under heaven 
Than is the maiden passion for a maid, 
Not only to keep down the base in man, 
But teach high thought, and amiable 

words 
And courtliness, and the desire of fame, 
And love of truth, and all that makes a 

man." 

We need regret the departure of mediae- 
val chivalry the less in that a more glorious 
era of equality is in process of development. 
We live in times less romantic, to be sure, 
but more fortunate. Law and order are the 
watchwords of our twentieth century's civil- 
ization, and social science the most absorb- 
ing study, for there is no denying the fact 




, ■ • . 






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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



that the public is to-day more interested in 
social questions than in anything else. 

The individual has his own private and 
particular ambition, but that aggregate of 
individuals known as the public is the force 
to be reckoned with, and that public is solv- 
ing social problems in fields of labor, science 
commerce, industry and human relations in 
every sphere of life. 

The statesman is a power, but this force 
controls his eloquence and directs the influ- 
ence of his counsels — this public welfare. 
Indeed, it may be questioned whether this 
has not been the case all through the his- 
tory of the world. The mediaeval knight 
may not have had in mind, and most prob- 
ably did not, primarily the improvement of 
society when he set out to win personal 
glory. The social issue was not recognized 
as such, and was given comparatively little 
thought, but the result was the same; the 



KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



only difference is that we recognize the fact 
that the betterment of society is the real 
issue, where the mediaeval mind did not. 

The systems and institutions of our 
country and of our time, the composite 
character of our nation and generation, 
would act as insurmountable obstacles in 
our path were we to try to impose mediaeval 
knighthood and chivalry upon modern 
times. But as the institution originally 
acted as a social force of the first order in 
fields of moral and social discipline, so may 
its spirit act upon the century now unfold- 
ing before us. 

To be sure, the various religions and 
systems of philosophy of the past three or 
four centuries have been molded upon new 
principles, so-called, and the rules of human 
conduct, as well as the attitude of the public 
mind, are not in harmony with the spirit 
and sentiment of mediaeval chivalry. We 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



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spell "Honor" in a new way, without a cap- 
ital, and with one letter less, and we prac- 
tise it, too, I am afraid, in a new way, with- 
out the vitality of its capital sense, and with 
more than one of its original factors omitted. 
We talk about it and make a great pretense 
of abiding by its laws, while we outrage the 
spirit of those laws. Few of us, indeed, 
could say, as Thomas Mowbray, Duke of 
Norfolk, said to King Richard the Second: 
"Mine honor is my life; both grow in one. 
Take honor from me and my life is done." 
In these days we thank heaven that we 
are infinitely better, far more enlightened, 
immeasurably superior to our forefathers of 
the Middle Ages. My friends, "beware of 
cant." Are we better ? And how, pray ? 
Do we more than fulfill the condition im- 
posed in the words of the Bishop of Valen- 
ciennes: "To live irreprehensibly before 
God and man ?" In that command is com- 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



prised the whole duty of a Christian and a 
gentleman. 

Now, I am not unaware of the fact that 
the word "gentleman" is a very much- 
abused word, in these days of superficial 
politeness and artificial courtesy, nor am I 
unmindful of the fact that you are all as well 
aware of it as I am. But wait a moment 
and give it your serious consideration. The 
words "Christian gentleman" contain the 
whole sum of social philosophy. I mean 
when taken in their true sense. Observe I 
did not say a Christian hero; this is not an 
heroic age, and few of us are called upon to 
be Christian heroes, in the sense that Father 
Damien was a hero, for example. Few of 
us, indeed, would be willing or able to act 
thus, if we were called upon. But to be a 
Christian gentleman, to recognize one's 
duty to one's self, to one's fellow man, and 
to one's Creator, and, having recognized 



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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



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these duties, to practise them, is so easy 
that one is amazed that intelligent men 
should ever be anything else. The mere 
motive of human policy would suggest the 
imprudence of being willing to be thought 
otherwise. The title of gentleman origin- 
ally carried with it high distinction in a 
world where the men prized truth and 
honor, and the women gentleness and chas- 
tity, far above life or all that life could offer. 
That there are native gentlemen is true 
enough, but to the less fortunate of us, who 
are not native gentlemen, the qualifications 
are simple and easy of attainment. Few of 
us are born with generous instincts, with re- 
fined feelings, and with a sense of personal 
dignity, but we are hardly out of pinafores 
before our tendencies are apparent, and all 
of us may possess at least a small measure 
of self-control even in childhood. To many 
of us the struggle for mere existence, the 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



exertion and labor of providing for material 
necessities, may seem to excuse us from the 
daily and hourly observation of the golden 
rule which underlies all true courtesy. 
Self-interest will suggest the doctrine of 
"each for himself, and the devil take the 
hindmost." Indolence will whisper that 
our one little individuality counts for noth- 
ing at all in the sum of human events. 
Grant you all that. It is the twentieth cen- 
tury attitude of mind; but the most modest 
individual amongst us will be able to con- 
vince himself, without undue effort, that he 
is of the highest consequence to himself. 
Again, no one is so small or so unimportant 
that he does not exert some influence upon 
the people about him even by the expres- 
sion of his countenance, by the clothes he 
wears, or by his manner of wearing them. 

Do we not all find it pleasanter to see 
cheerful faces than doleful ones, whether we 



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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



I 



know their owners or not ? Is it not far 
more agreeable in the crowds and crushes 
of the world to brush against the neat than 
the slovenly ? Are we not all affected by 
the sullenness, the ill-humor, the discon- 
tent of our fellow workman ? All this is 
very trifling, you say, but is it ? "Trifles 
make perfection, and perfection is no trifle/ ' 
said Michael Angelo. 

We all have powers of the mind as well 
as powers of the body. That constitutes 
our humanity.. But the powers of the mind 
are far more docile and flexible to our will 
than are those of the body, and the differ- 
ence between men, in all that constitutes 
the gentleman and the Christian, is a mat- 
ter of the relative force of the development 
of these powers in each individual. 

The first step in the direction of true 
knighthood, that is, in the direction of the 
real gentleman, is to-day precisely the same 




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KNIGHTHOOD A N'D CHIVALRY 



as it was ten centuries ago, i. e., the recog- 
nition of the simple, plain, self-evident fact 
that we live in society and are subject to 
human responsibility in respect of that fact. 

As uncouthness of manner, ferocity of 
spirit and general barbarity were minim- 
ized under the influence of the mediaeval 
knighthood, so may the materialism, the 
self-seeking and brazen greed of our own 
days be counteracted by the modern type of 
knighthood. 

Human nature has the same motives 
and aspirations at all times, differing only 
in degree and relative proportion. But hu- 
man conditions change, and it is for us to 
adapt the ideals of all perfect knighthood to 
our conditions and circumstances. 

The desire of political power, personal 
ambition, greed of money, the development I 
of political and social institutions, the riv- 
alry of classes and races, the growth of 



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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 




commerce and civic interests, the estab- 
lishment of international trade, all these 
were factors in the sum of human agencies 
in the tenth and twelfth centuries as they 
are in the twentieth. 

The rivalries of domestic and interna- 
tional trade in this commercial age are quite 
as absorbing and exciting as the rivalries 
for the favors of fair dames were to our pre- 
decessors. 

(, As the mediaeval knight must be a sol- 
dier first and last and all the time, so must 
the present-day knight be a soldier, though 
he fights the battles of peace, the social and 
industrial, commercial and moral battles 
that result in increased happiness for his 
fellow beings as well as for himself. 

' There is still ample scope for adventure 
and enterprise, though its pursuits be in 
other ways. There are still giants to kill, 
but they are giants of intemperance and 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



sensuality, of falsehood and dishonor, of 
lawlessness and licentiousness, of ignorance 
and vice. 

The obligation of veracity is not less 
universal and not less binding on modern 
society than on mediaeval. To break one's 
knightly word was a disgrace, and in this 
respect our later civilization has much to 
learn from the Middle Ages, for what was 
laid down then as a rule for knights and 
gentlemen was accepted by universal con- 
sent as a universal obligation. Indeed, 
there has never been a time when the virtue 
of good faith has not been held in highest 
esteem, and the contrary vice of falsehood 
or treachery abhorred. The sin of Judas is 
the capital crime of all history. 

Dante, it may be remarked in passing, 
in his immortal poem, has a special corner 
of hell reserved for Judas and Brutus and 
Cassius. And, setting aside the question of 




KNICHTHOQD AND CHIVALRY 



: . 






3\ 



sin, the sentiment of honor, to which all 
meanness is detestable and foreign, and the 
sentiment of personal dignity, which pre- 
vents a man from ever lowering himself, not 
only in the opinion of others, but in his own, 
which never forgets what is due from him- 
self to himself (the principle of "noblesse 
oblige" carried into every detail of daily 
life and deportment), all are excellent char- 
acteristics of the Christian gentleman in 
general and in particular and in all times. 

Anent this matter of deportment, it is 
another instance in which we may take 
valuable lessons from the mediaeval knight. 

The development of the republican prin- 
ciple, the absence of an hereditary aristoc- 
racy with its privileges of rank and cere- 
monial, have had the effect of decreasing 
not only good manners themselves, but, 
also, to a certain extent, the respect enter- 
tained for good manners. And yet at no 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



time have the titles of gentleman and lady 
been quite so universally and persistently 
abused. 

In the Dark (save the mark!) Ages, to 
be a gentleman was to be more than to be 
a man. The title connotes something sub- 
stantial in the title of the man which exists 
as a reality, and this something is one of its 
manifestations, namely, good manners. 

Now, the three modes in which we ex- 
press ourselves towards those with whom 
we come in contact in the domestic and 
social relations of life are, by our actions, 
by our conversation and by our manners. 
The importance of our actions is too self- 
evident to need discussion; that of our con- 
versation, though little less important, com- 
pels most of us to be at least cautious about 
offending general usage. Profanity and 
coarseness carry their own condemnation, 
and we all recognize the fact. But with re- 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 






gard to our manners it will be questioned by 
some and doubted by many whether one's 
manners, good, bad or indifferent, have any 
moral bearing at all in the sum total of one's 
character. 

The very foundation of good manners 
is the recognition of the eternal brotherhood 
of man; the essential rule of good manners 
and good breeding is practically the same 
as in other spheres. Do unto others as you 
would have others do unto you. Even 
though we ignore the commandment and 
act from lower motives, there are few of us 
who have not learned from experience that 
politeness, like honesty, is the best policy. 
With the well-bred, politeness is but an ex- 
change of courtesy, while in dealing with 
the rude and ill-bred there is nothing quite 
so effectual for his disarming as to be calmly 
and persistently polite. As to the moral 
value of good manners and polished deport- 



m 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



ment, it may be asserted that consistent and 
habitual politeness is to the moral being 
what personal cleanliness is to the physical. 
1 Another virtue of our mediaeval knight 
was that of hospitality, and hospitality in 
its true sense seems to be altogether dead. 
In these days we give large entertainments, 
to which we invite a host of people whom 
we don't know, many of whom we do not 
wish to know, but whose wealth or social 
position or professional ability we foolishly 
consider an ornament to our board. We 
all know that display and ostentation do 
not constitute hospitality, but vanity; the 
true hospitality will share a crust or a tent, 
or even will accept less than these where 
there is friendliness and welcome and con- 
genial companionship. The knight of old 
shared even his dangers with his companion 
in arms. 






KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 




To the spirit of chivalry, indeed, belong 
many qualities worthy of emulation, com- 
manding praises which would appear a 
shade too enthusiastic. I might, were I 
categorically to count them, be met with the 
reproof, "Who says there are not ?" 

And yet there are men, and they form 
no small portion of society everywhere, who 
would try to convince us that the chivalrous 
life is the dream of an excited imagination, 
men who worship the gods of reason and 
expediency, who mock at the chivalrous 
sentiments of mankind, and regard roman- 
ces, the beauties of nature, art and poetry, 
all the essential and immortal and ideal 
realities of life as extravagances and luxu- 
ries; who look upon conscience almost as a 
scandal, and upon justice as a delusion. 
These men in like manner regard the 
knightly virtues of truth and courtesy and 
faith and loyalty as luxuries to be indulged 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



in only once in a while, and then, for some 
reason of expediency. They will tell you 
that chivalry is dead. Nothing could be fur- 
ther from the fact, for no age can witness 
its utter and final extinction. 

Systems of government, national insti- 
tutions, combinations of circumstances may 
be more or less favorable to its develop- 
ment; what is accidental — the tilts, tourna- 
ments, banners, ceremonials — may pass, 
but what essentially belongs to it has its 
roots deep down in the nature of man and 
can not fail to endure. 

The materialism of this age will pass 
away as the chivalry of the mediaeval times 
has passed away, and for the same reason. 
Neither has contained within itself the ca- 
pacity of satisfying the whole nature of man- 
kind. Each will have contributed its por- 
tion, and each will have served its purpose. 
The twentieth century materialism will 



I 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



probably leave as its contribution to future 
generations a more elevated and ideal esti- 
mation of health, physical, political, intel- 
lectual, social and moral — an increased cul- 
tivation of social responsibilities as the pur- 
suit of earthly felicities — a rational appre- 
ciation of the value of money, not as an 
ideal to be worshipped, nor as an end to be 
sought in itself, but for its use in multiply- 
ing our capacities for happiness. 

The lesson for us to apply is that as 
mediaeval knighthood set up and main- 
tained a standard before the eyes of the 
knightly class higher than any which had 
been known before, and as the recognition 
of this standard was an important factor in 
the progress of the world from barbarous 
to civilized life, so our knighthood should 
set up a standard and rule of conduct which 
will make us ashamed of our lower instincts 
and passions, which will put an end to bru- 





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KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



tality and vice, which will place us before 
our fellow men as "chevaliers sans peur et 
sans reproche," who consider the foolish- 
ness of an ideal as wiser than the wisdom 
of the world. 

I said that there is still ample scope for 
adventure and enterprise. But it will re- 
quire knights, valiant and strong, to over- 
come the enemy in the struggle where the 
combat will be with giants of intemperance, 
sensuality, falsehood, dishonor, lawlessness, 
licentiousness, ignorance and vice. This is 
what confronts the Catholic organization 
which has assumed to itself the exalted and 
dignified title of Knights of Columbus. 

The conflict will be watched with as 
keen an interest as were the tilts and tourna- 
ments of ancient chivalry, and the result 
will be of greater import to the human race. 
It may be that from the ranks of this mod- 
ern knighthood there will come forth in this 




KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY 



or a future age some American, so knightly 
and valiant and strong, that from his bow 
the arrows, with aim direct, shall strike 
down these giants that are so harmful to 
the world. 





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LRBJl'27 



